What's reasonable to charge for when selling and how long did it take for your sale to go through?

[SexNamesRFab]

A while ago I posted to ask if anyone had ever put a 'heat of the moment offer' in on a house (I can't find the original thread to update). Well, our offer wasn't accepted at the time but, due to the vendor having second thoughts about the reliability of their original buyer and me ringing the EA at the right moment, our offer has now been accepted. Yay!

I've never sold and bought at the same time before. If you have, how long did yours take to go through? there are only 3 of us in the chain but it's in my interest not to rush it as the house needs a lot of work and ideally I'd like to save a bit more for works and avoid moving at the coldest time of the year.

Also, what items do you consider it reasonable to give our buyers the opportunity to buy rather than automatically including in the price?

The 3 properties I've bought, oddly enough all accepted the offer in the February, and we completed / moved in in the July. that was one as a first time buyer and two in smallish chains.

Re the 'what to include' my feeling is that you start with nothing removable included in the price, as that can then become a negotiating tool. Beyond that, it depends to some extent how 'customised' things are to your current house or to your personal tastes as to whether it is practical to take things with you. People won't generally spend much to buy second hand, so from a financial viewpoint if it is something you can use, take it with you, and if the buyer is particularly keen they will offer you what they think it is worth. However there is another thread running tonight where probably 50 - 70% of the posters are agreeing with the OP who said it was "greedy" to take your own stuff with you when you move house so I think 'fashion' has changed.

Ours took nearly five months to go through. This was mainly due to delays from solicitors and our buyer and his so-called surveyor claiming that we had damp in our bathroom (we eventually managed to prove that this wasn't the case). We had already used the same surveyor to carry out a survey on the house we were purchasing (are they really allowed to do this?!) - he tried everything he could to pick fault in the house that we were selling but missed loads of things in the house that we were buying. The man who bought our old house wanted to add it to his buy-to-let portfolio and it guessing his surveyor wanted to help his 'boss' save a bit of money on the purchase of our old house from us. The surveyor also seemed very interested in the house were buying and I also wondered at the time whether he was hoping the sale could fall through all together so that he could put in a cheeky offer himself!

It depends on availability of a mortgage, surveyors reports and searches. All can be a delay. I would not put your buyers off by dragging your feet. You might want to save but you don’t want to lose a buyer either.

Look in every room and think if you want to take things with you. Personally I think it’s really mean to take curtain poles (another discussion) because they probably won’t fit a new house and will leave holes. That’s a no no in my book - leaving holes. You can take curtains or ask for money but they may not like them. Again removing blinds can leave holes.

Light fittings and shades can be removed or charged for. If they are worth anything. You must leave safe working lights though and taking wall lights is also mean in my view because what you leave behind is not pleasant to look at.

You could take carpets and recut them to fit. If you really must. You could charge for them if you leave them. If they are new you might consider this but it’s also mean in my view because you needed them to sell the place! Take rugs though. You could take shelves but again you should make good the holes. Ditto if you take a bathroom cabinet. All fitted furniture must be left and not charged for.

Garden sheds/greenhouses could be charged for. They could refuse to pay for anything and call your bluff. Are you really going to dismantle a greenhouse? What about the waste disposal unit? There is no end to what you could dismantle if you don’t get money for it so I think it’s best to ask the buyer what they want and come to an agreement about what you will leave but it is pleasant not to strip a house.